Ten best books I read in 2019

As every year, I am compiling here my top 10 of books that I read in the past year. As I am writing this post mid December, I have read 59 books so far, or 18321 pages in total. It’s been a good year for reading – 15 books I read I gave a 5 star rating in my Goodreads account. I usually only give a 5 star rating to a book that touches me deeply – I need to feel that the book changed me in some way to deserve 5 stars.

Here are the 10 best books I read last year:

10. Juliet’s School of Possibilities: A Little Story about the Power of Priorities by Laura Vanderkam
A delightful modern-day parable about what matters in life.
9. Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams by Matthew Walker
An eye-opener: why sleep is the most important part of our life… a bit frustrating to read this as a sleep-deprived parent, but a good reminder to try very hard to make sleep a priority.
8. On the Shores of Darkness, There Is Light by Cordelia Strube
A story without heroes but with very interesting characters.
7. Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
Coming of age, history of Detroit, and family portrait.
6. La Gloire de mon père (Souvenirs d’enfance #1)by Marcel Pagnol (I read the original version in French)
Manon des Sources is one of my favorite movies, and this book hit close to my love for that movie, and Provence-nostalgia
5. Under the Volcano by Malcolm Lowry
I started reading this in 2017, when I was in the 3rd trimester of pregnancy. I didn’t have the stamina to concentrate on this book at that time, but restarted this year – and it was worth giving this book a second chance.
4. Twelve Years a Slave by Solomon Northup
A harrowing tale of what could happen to a black man, not so long ago, and not so far away.
3. The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism by Naomi Klein
I read this shortly before Ecuador turned into complete chaos – as almost a prophecy
2. Flights by Olga Tokarczuk (I read the English translation)
I bought this before the Nobel Prize – and heard that she won the Nobel Prize while I was reading this book.
1. The Eighth Life (for Brilka)by Nino Haratschwili (I read the Dutch translation)
What an experience: the history of a family and the country Georgia.